FAQs about Start Dates and End Dates

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How To

Summary

Using seven scenarios that are typically faced by caseworkers, this article explains the differences between entering the Start Date, the Received Date, and the Effective Date of Change. The article also explains the dates to enter in the Start Date and the End Date fields, and when to enter an End Date.

Steps

1. What date do I enter in the Start Date field?

Scenario: The Start Date represents when the evidence started.

The Start Date represents when the evidence started. The Start Date might be before the application date for benefits. For example, the client applied on 15 September 2020 and he told you that his son started school on 28 August 2020. You create the Student evidence and enter 28 August 2020 in the Start Date field.

If on 2 February 2021 the same client tells you that he started a new employment on 31 January 2021, in the Start Date field you enter 31 January 2021 for the new Income evidence.

2. When do I change the Start Date?

Scenario: The Start Date represents when the evidence started. This date can be changed if it is incorrect.

When a change occurs in the client’s circumstances over time, do not change the Start Date value. However, if you enter the start date incorrectly, you can change the value in the Start Date field even if the evidence is active. If the evidence includes changes over time, you must update the Start Date to be the same for all evidence records.

3. What do I enter in the Received Date field?

Scenario: The Received Date represents the date on which the evidence was received. The Start Date represents when the evidence started.

The Received Date is the date on which the evidence was received. You must enter the Received Date when you create evidence. The Received Date defaults to the current date. For example, if a client applied last week by using a paper benefits application and the caseworker enters the application in the system today, the Received Date is the date on the application from last week.

If on 2 February 2021 the same client tells you that he started a new employment on 31 January 2021, in the Received Date field enter 2 February 2021 for the new Income evidence. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: On 2 February 2021, John Doe tells you that he started new employment on 31 January 2021.

4. What's the difference between the Received Date, the Start Date, and the Effective Date of Change?

Scenario: The Received Date represents when the evidence was received. The Start Date represents when the evidence started. The Effective Date of Change represents when the evidence changed over time after the Start Date.

The Received Date represents when the evidence was received. The Start Date represents when the evidence started. The Effective Date of Change is the date on which the evidence changed over time after the Start Date of the evidence. Evidence can have multiple Effective Dates of Change, depending on how many times the evidence changed over time, but only one Start Date. For example, a liquid resource evidence record can include a checking account value. The checking account value is likely to change over time several times. The liquid resources evidence has one Start Date, which might be from when the account was opened, and the Start Date does not change when the Effective Date of Change is captured.

When you enter an Effective Date of Change, you can also enter a Received Date to represent when you received the change of information.

When the Effective Date of Change is used, the Start Date must be the same on each evidence record.

The Start Date, Received Date, and Effective Date of Change are also used to display information about the evidence on the Active Evidence and In Edit Evidence pages.

For example, you create Unearned Income evidence in the amount of $200 with a Start Date of 1 January 2020 and a Received Date of 2 February 2020. You then change the evidence over time, changing the amount to $250, and enter a Date Received of 4 March 2021 and an Effective Date of Change of 3 March 2021.

Figure 2 represents the information that is displayed on the Active Evidence page when you view information about the initial Unearned Income record. The Period field that is displayed on the first row represents the Start Date of the evidence because the evidence did not change over time. The Period field that is displayed for each individual evidence record represents the period over which the evidence record that is being displayed is effective and displays as 1/1/2020. In this example, the Period field displays the same date as the Start Date because it is an initial record.

The date that is displayed under the Change Summary column represents the Received Date that you entered when you initially created the evidence. The Effective Date of Change is displayed as blank because there was no change. The Received Date is displayed under Change Summary as 2/2/2020 and followed by the word Initial. The date shows that the client reported the change a month and a day after the start date of 1 January 2020. Near the end of the page, the Start Date is displayed as 1/1/2020.

Figure 2. The expanded unearned income evidence shows that John Doe’s evidence started on 1 January 2020.

Figure 3 represents the information that is displayed on the Active Evidence page when you view information about the change that is made to the Unearned Income evidence over time. The Period field that is displayed on the first row for the evidence represents either the Start Date of the evidence where the evidence did not change over time or the latest Effective Date of Change where the evidence changed over time.

Because the Unearned Income evidence has a change over time, the Period is displayed as 3/3/2021. The Period field that is displayed for each individual evidence record represents the period over which the evidence record that is being displayed is effective and is displayed as 3/3/2021. In the example, the Period field displays the same date as the Effective Date of Change because it is a change over time.

The date that is displayed under the Change Summary column represents the Date Received that was entered when either you initially created the evidence or when you created a change over time. It displays as 3/4/2021 because the evidence record that is displayed is the change that is made to the evidence over time. The Effective Date of Change field displays as 3/3/2021 because there was a change over time effective 3 March 2021 and the Start Date field displays as 1/1/2020 because the date did not change from the original Unearned Income record.

Figure 3. The expanded unearned income evidence shows that John Doe’s evidence started on 1 January 2020. Then, there was a change over time on 3 March 2021 as displayed by the Period.

5. My evidence does not have a Start Date field. What does this mean?

**Scenario: **Some evidence types might include information that is like a Start Date. Other evidence types might not have any related information.

Depending upon how specific evidence is configured, evidence might have a date that works like a Start Date but is named differently, for example, a From field. See Figure 4.

Figure 4: This Email Address evidence has a From field instead of a Start Date field.

When evidence details include no date that is like a Start Date, the date that the evidence is considered to start defaults to the case Start Date. For example, John Doe’s employment started on 1 February 2021 and the case start date is 1 January 2021. Paid Employment evidence does not have a Start Date field. Therefore, the start date of 1 February 2021 is not recorded with the evidence. Instead, the evidence is considered effective for the duration of the case that started on 1 January 2021. On the Active Evidence list, the evidence Period (the date on which the evidence is considered to start) is displayed as 1 January 2021. See Figure 5.

Figure 5: When evidence does not have a date that is like the Start Date field, the Period defaults to the case start date. Here the case Start Date is 1 January 2021, so the Paid Employment Period defaults to 1 January 2021.

6. What date do I enter in the End Date field?

Scenario: An End Date is the last date that evidence is in effect. Evidence is no longer in effect after this date.

An End Date represents that evidence is no longer in effect.

For example, you entered Benefit evidence with a Start Date of 1/1/2021 and no end date. The client received the benefit ongoing. On 1 December 2021, the client reported that the benefit ended on 30 November 2021. The benefit is no longer in effect as of 30 November 2021 and you enter that date as the End Date.

7. Do I enter an End Date when I add an Effective Date of Change?

**Scenario: **Add a value in the End Date field only when the evidence is no longer in effect.

The evidence is valid from the Start Date through the End Date. Evidence is no longer in effect after this date. The Effective Date of Change is the date on which the evidence changed over time. In general, when you use Effective Date of Change to show a change of circumstance over time, do not enter an End Date. Enter an End Date on the final change over time only where it is known that the evidence will no longer be in effect from a specific date.

Example

Initial Record: John Doe applies for benefits and tells you that he is working and makes $1100 and his job started on 10 October 2019. His income is ongoing so there is no End Date.

The following steps list how to enter the initial record:
1. Click to add Income evidence.
2. Click the type as Wages and Salaries, enter the Start Date as 10 October 2019. Enter the Amount as $1100. Enter any Frequency.
3. Save. See Figure 6.
4. Apply changes.

Figure 6: An initial Income record.

Change 1: Later you learned that changes were required to the evidence. John’s income increased to $1200 starting on 12 December 2020.

The following steps list how to enter the change over time:
1. Click to edit the Income evidence.
2. In Effective Date of Change, enter 12 December 2020.
3. Change the value in Amount to 1200.
4. Save. See Figure 7.
5. Apply changes.

Figure 7: Income changes over time from $1100 to $1200 on 12 December 2020.

Correction: On 6 April 2021, John told you that he lost his job and his last day was 4 April 2021. You add an End Date on the current evidence record. The Effective Date of Change is not entered or changed because until 4 April 2021 John’s wage was $1200.

The following steps list how to make a correction when you enter the End Date:
1. Click to edit the Income evidence for 12 December 2020.
2. In End Date, enter 4 April 2021. As this update is a correction, do not enter or change the Effective Date of Change again.
3. Save. See Figure 8.
4. Apply changes.

Figure 8: Income changes over time from $1100 to $1200 on 12 December 2020. Then, there is a correction on the 12 December 2020 record to add an End Date of 4 April 2021.